2012 Youth Waterfowl Day hunt at Bear Island WMA

Will Carter with banded mottled duck and father Garrett Carter

Sarah Adams and father Jason from Columbia

Fifteen-year old duck hunter Will Carter of Walterboro has already had a memorable waterfowl season. He and his father won the lottery drawing to hunt at Bear Island on December 1, and then he harvested a drake mottled duck with a federal leg band. Another youth on the draw hunt picked up their ‘first duck’ and Sarah Adams of Columbia shot her limit of six ducks. SCDNR officials offer this youth waterfowl hunt each year, attracting the attention of young waterfowl enthusiasts to Bear Island WMA in Colleton County. No stranger to this SCDNR hunt, this was the third time that the Carter father and son duo had been drawn. The December 1 date is a special youth only waterfowl day that is approved by the state of South Carolina. The SCDNR rules for Wildlife Management Areas stipulate that only 25 shotgun shells can be brought into the hunt. By the end of the youth hunt Carter had burned up his 25 shot shells and collected his six duck limit. “I shoot a Remington 1187 12-gauge shotgun, and since there was little wind, the ducks were not decoying too well,” said Carter. Apparently his pass shooting is not rusty because he knocked down two blue-winged teal and a shoveler not long after the 6:39 a.m. shooting time. “It was the fourth duck of the day that kind of made the hunt for me, when my Dad picked up the mottled duck and shouted that it had a band on it!” Any migratory waterfowl with a federal leg band on it, is a trophy unto itself because of how rare it is to encounter one. It turns out that mottled ducks are being banded right here in the Lowcountry for studies, and SCDNR’s Dean Harrigal was quick to point out that the band likely came from the Santee Delta near Georgetown or from Nemours Plantation on the Combahee River. Of course Bear Island lies between the Ashepoo and the Edisto rivers of the ACE Basin.

Traveling from Columbia to take part in the special youth / adult hunt was 13-year old Sarah Adams and her father Jason. With three teal, a shoveler and two gadwall this young lady proved to be an excellent wingshooter. “I have been hunting ducks with Dad since I was 10, and we started hunting for deer when I was 6,” said Adams. “I saw a lot more than ducks flying around during the hunt, and this was the best overall experience I have had on a duck hunt ever.” Ross Catterton with SCDNR helps the draw hunters to and from their blinds during all the waterfowl draw hunts. “The youth hunt is probably our most gratifying hunt of the year,” said Catterton. Dean Harrigal is the chief waterfowl biologist with SCDNR. “These youths are genuinely excited about visiting Bear Island and we want to make sure that they have a good experience,” said Harrigal.

Rob and 'Mutt' Miller with his FIRST duck ! 

Typical Bear Island mixed bag of ducks

Often this hunt yields a ‘first duck’ for one lucky waterfowler, and the December 1 hunt was no exception. Congrats go to 11-year old Harrison ‘Mutt’ Miller of Orangeburg for collecting his first duck while hunting with father Rob. Mutt actually finished with two ducks, a blue-winged teal and a gadwall, and he told me that he is more than ready to go duck hunting again. Mutt’s sentiment is the goal of these special youth hunts, to get them hunting with mentors in preparation to go hunting for a lifetime.

To read this feature article in the newspaper, click Colletonian.

To view a past blog entry about federal leg bands on migratory birds click here.

To view past blog entries about Bear Island WMA click on duck hunting.

2012 Lowcountry Hunt for fox at Airy Hall

Mary Foster on her paint horse

The Lowcountry Hunt is a group of fox hunting enthusiasts based out of Colleton County, and they have begun their annual season os Saturday meets. The setting for the December 1 meet was Airy Hall Plantation, which is down Bennett's Point Road in Colleton County. Horse trailers and members of Lowcountry Hunt start arriving by 9 a.m. in order to begin the meet before the temperatures creep upward too much. Both the horses and the pack of trail dogs will perform better if cooler temps will hold out until noon, but this was not the case on Dec. 1 and the hunt was shortened due to conditions. Of course, nothing can derail the social 'breakfast' for fox hunters and their supporters that follows each of these meets. Thanks to hosts Buck and Chip Limhouse for the hospitality at Airy Hall, which remains active with other equestrian activities like polo.

Release the hounds!

Home to equestrian enthusiasts

To view past blog entries about the Lowcountry Hunt click here.

2012 SCWA Walterboro Sponsor Event

SCWA's David Wielicki, with co-chairs Jim Minor and Allen Bell

Fire pit family fun at the SCWA sponsor event

SCWA sponsors Reaves McLeod and Miles Crosby 

With SCWA director David Wielicki in attendance, the Walterboro co-chairs Jim Minor and Allen Bell presented him with a $5000 check from recent fundraising efforts. Wielicki went on to detail how SCWA was formed in Walterboro 26 years ago by some of the same supporters present at this sponsor oyster roast, held under the equipment shed at Deux Chenaux Plantation. Raffle tickets were sold for a duck hunt, shotguns and more to raise funds. Stating that their goal is to raise funds in order to send youths from Colleton County to SCWA's Camp Woodie, the annual banquet preparations are underway for the January 19 event at the Walterboro armory. The sponsor event menu included May River oysters, and baked barbecue chicken. The fire pit got more popular as the night progressed, as the full moonshine brought in cooler temperatures. Good weather for duck hunting!

To view past blog entries about the SCWA Walterboro Chapter click here.

Terri and Perry Smith are long time waterfowl supporters

Nov. '12 WMA duck harvest / Youth Day Dec. 1

Redhead, Pintail and Mottled duck (speculum)

Overall the Thanksgiving week of duck season in South Carolina brought in a sharp contrast in reports including no hunting due to lack of ducks, with other locations grateful for all the ducks that Superstorm Sandy pushed this far south seemingly ahead of schedule. The SCDNR keeps track of their waterfowl harvest on Wildlife Management Areas, and the Nov. 12 data also shows various results. For instance, the Bear Island West Hunt Unit showed slow results with less than three ducks per hunter with mostly northern shovelers in the bag. Meanwhile Bear Island East had a more typical harvest of gadwall, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal and shovelers too. Once again the leader of the pack is the Hickory Top Greentree Reserve, located in the Midlands, with a staggering 319 wood ducks harvested over one week!! This stat powered the wood duck to be the number one duck in the S.C. hunter's bag over Thanksgiving with a total of 400 overall harvested. For further details about which species were harvested, including data from the Santee Delta hunt units, click SCDNR.

Dec. 1 is designated as State Youth Waterfowl day in S.C., providing an opportunity to introduce the next generation of hunters to waterfowling. Hunters 17 years old and younger qualify when they are accompanied by an adult hunter 21 years of age. The adult mentor is not allowed to carry a gun or to hunt. A federal duck stamp must be purchased by the youth, but the state waterfowl permit requirement will be waived for this special Dec. 1 hunt!

To view past blog entries about Nov. WMA duck harvests click here.

2012 National Assembly of Sportsmen's Caucuses

S.C. Rep. Mike Pitts with SCDNR Director Alvin Taylor

NASC logo

2012 NASC State Legislators

Talking about conservation in the ACE Basin,
with Dan Ashe, Director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency

The 2012 annual conference of the National Association of Sportsmens Caucuses met at The Marina Inn at Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach. The NASC invites sportsman legislators from across the nation to join together to discuss issues that they face in their home states. The sharing of information helps to keep concerns about sporting issues on the front burner of the politicians who can shape the policies that affect those who value our great outdoors. The Congressional Sportsmens Foundation in D.C. serves as the umbrella organization for NASC. South Carolina hosted NASC five years ago, and the S.C. Sportsmen's caucus produced the current NASC Executive Council President - Rep. Mike Pitts, who serves as the host for the Myrtle Beach summit. SCDNR keeps a high profile at such events by licensing these out of state sportsmen before their afternoon hunting and fishing trips and SCDNR Director Alvin Taylor was present to extend a welcome to everyone. Some of the topics at NASC included knife rights, silencer legality education, uniform hunter education programs, catch shares, idle iron policies, and the threats from feral hogs. John Frampton, formerly with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies spoke about the 75th anniversary of the Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration program. Dan Ashe is the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and he came to the Lowcountry Outdoors to express gratitude to the grass roots legislators that can set the tone for national policies. This 9th annual NASC summit proves to be an important tool to raise awareness on a national level, and Myrtle Beach and South Carolina proudly provided quality hunting and fishing opportunities for these legislator guests.

To view a recap from Barton James, Director of DU Public Policy, click here.

To read my feature story click on Colletonian.

Jeff Angers and Mike Leonard,
 after the saltwater fishing breakout session

To view past blog entries about the CSF click here.

Texas Hold 'Em - Fins and Feathers at Redfish Lodge

Texas Hold 'Em: Redfish over drake redhead, pintail and mottled ducks

Guide Brian Holden tweaking the decoy spread

Elizabeth Holland with her black drum and guide

Redheads and bluebills in Texas 

Lowcountry Outdoors experienced a Cast and Blast trip for ducks and fish along the southern gulf coast of Texas. Based in Rockport, The Redfish Lodge is well suited to provide everything that the traveling sportsman might require. My third visit to this first class lodge, with its own private mile long peninsula, was another epiphany about just how special their location continues to be. Location, location, location! During a full weekend of hunting and fishing we never had to leave the lodge grounds, which makes for a convenient and comfortable stay. Lured by the chance to shoot redheads and pintails - the bag included those species as well as mottled ducks, bluebills and shovelers. Guide Brian Holden assured me that the duck hunting in this area is very consistent since it is near the bottom of the flyway. The saltwater fishing was excellent as usual with large redfish being easy to find, plus the mixed bag that all saltwater enthusiasts value. Even if you don't play competitive card games, I can recommend this game of Texas Hold 'Em as a great way to get in touch with a stellar outdoors experience.

To view my feature article in The Charleston Mercury click here.

To view past blog entries about The Redfish Lodge click here.

Lowcountry Saltwater Fishing Report - 11/27/12

Fishing Report for the Coastal Lowcountry of South Carolina:

Perky redfish ready for release!

Charleston Inshore Report: Scott Hammond at Haddrell's Point West asks have you tricked a trout lately?? Get a bag of Trout Tricks, the latest plastic bait for specks, and you will have made a deadly investment towards landing lots of spotted seatrout. Just like the super sized tides lately, reports of quality trout have been flooding in to Scott for two weeks now! Our 'steady as she goes' weather pattern has the trout locked into the right mindset, and the waters are getting gin clear. Other options for trout include Zman PaddlerZ, DOA shrimp, Mirrolure 17MR - and for best results fish them around hard bottom and shell rakes in 3 to 7-feet of water. Anglers don't need live live bait right now for trout, but a live shrimp under a floating cork will never go out of style. Redfish continue to school up in larger numbers as the water temps fall, and are feeding aggressively in shallow water flats during low tide levels. Gulp jerkshads, cut mullet, and 1/8-ounce gold spoons are all working well on red drum. Sheepshead reports are reaching critical mass, with one boat reporting 80 sheepies in a 4-hour trip!  Sheepshead tactics include using fiddler crabs and live shrimp around rock piles and bridge pilings in 8 to 15-feet of water. For all the latest seminar information visit the Internet at Haddrell's Point.

Josh Boyles from Southern Drawl Outfitters in Hilton Head starts by saying that he just got off the water and the Tuna are HERE! He caught them trolling, jigging and on topwater too. The grouper bite was pretty good as well. Reports about the presence of wahoo are affirmative. The inshore fishing remains good and the trout bite is still going crazy. The reds are becoming spooky at low tide in the clear water, so try to move quietly from spot to spot and locate them visually before making your cast. Then work your bait or lure very slowly. If the fish are super sluggish due to cold weather, Josh recommends letting a Gulp bait just sit out there for 3 to 5-minutes to produce a better bite. SUBTLE is the key word so remember to go with the lightest weight possible, so as not to make a loud splash when casting. The bull reds are out of the sound, but are holding offshore in great numbers. The loons and the gannets will show you where they are located every time. For the latest store information visit Southern Drawl Outfitters.

Offshore Report: Scott tells us that even though many of the preferred bottom species are currently under closures, some anglers are still out there probing fro triggerfish, porgies, and some grouper. Butterfly style jigs and live baits are your best choices for grouper and grunts, while triggers will readily take a piece of squid. Two boats that went trolling recently at the ledge found the wahoo bite scattered in 160 to 300-feet of water, with a few sailfish sprinkled in from 400 to 600-feet of water.

To view past Lowcountry Saltwater Fishing Reports click here.